September Hiatus

OK so this is about a month behind. I should have made September my official hiatus month before now, but now, I am. 

See you all in October!!

The Pop Shoppe Root Beer

The Pop Shoppe start in 1969 in London, Ontario, Canada. It was a bit of an underground soda, no marketing, and selling 24 bottle cases to local stores. Eddie Shack for the National Hockey League eventually became the spokesman for The Pop Shoppe in 1976. There also was a cartoon in the 70's starring Captain Pop.The original company shut down in 1983, but was revived in 2004 by Brian Alger. 2006, Eddie Shack is back as a spokesman. Costco and 7-11 signed on through the 2000's as retailers, and The Pop Shoppe has become a stable international nostalgic soda brand. 

Opening smell worries me, as all I really get is licorice. While there are some licorice undertones to the taste, its a creamy solid root beer taste. Nice balance of flavors. Is some fruit taste to it as well. I'd say a sort of citrus. I'd also say its not quite as heavy as other root beers. Root beers can get very earthy, and leave you feeling the heaviness in your stomach. The Pop Shoppe avoids that. Its good, I'd drink it again, and would buy, but honestly only because its Canadian and has ties to hockey. 

One last note: one of the Pop Shoppe's gimmicks is the stubby bottle
. If its matters, the bottle I drank was not a classic stubby. 

Frostie Cherry Limeade soda

Frostie is a brand with rich history. In 1939, George Rackensperger rented an abandoned jailhouse in Maryland, with cells storing ingredients, and the garage for police vehicles for the actual bottling plant. The small size of his operation limited Rackensperger to just one flavor, root beer to begin. Though limited in marketing area, Frosty sales boomed. Eventually distributors requesting bottling ability, so Frosty became a franchise. In 1947, Frostie began to advertise and supply areas, and the brand grew beyond the Maryland area. Frostie's right were eventually bought by Leading Edge Brands, who then sold the rights to Intrastate Distributors Inc, from Detroit, Michigan. Along the franchising path, other soda flavors were added, and now the line includes diet root beer, cherry limeade, vanilla root beer, blue cream, orange and Concord grape. 

There is a pleasing fruity scent when opening, I'd say a maraschino cherry scent. Not sure I get a lime scent, but there are citrus undertones. Drinking it remind me a great deal of Shirley Temples and Shirley Temple sodas. That's not a bad thing, but labeled as it is, I expected something a little different. Its refreshing but I'd rather have a Saranac Shirley Temple. Would drink again, but I'd buy Saranac first.

Death Valley Black Cherry

Death Valley's history is a few sodas ago, so you get spared!!

Very rich cherry scent, very potent too. Not many sodas I can smell without just about jamming the bottle up my nose, and this was one. Pleasant soda to drink. I'm not a black cherry expert, so I'm not sure it compares to black cherries. Does taste like the black cherry yogurt I eat. Another fruit soda that's not too sweet, not too tart, just refreshing, heart soda. I'd drink again, and buy again eventually. Lotta sodas to taste before that though. 

Flathead Lake Huckleberry Soda

So, blueberry vs huckleberry. Where I grew up, we had this small little bush that produced what looked like small blueberries. The berries were small, more tart, and had less bulk to them. They were kinda crunchy because their small size didn't leave a lot or room for much but the seeds.

Childhood in mind, I hoped this soda would not let me down with its taste. Smell was very fresh berry scent. The taste was wonderful. I'd say they nailed huckleberry taste. Very tasty, and the flavor I remember from my youth. A bit of a tart bit to it, but that's a huckleberry. Nice trip down childhood memory lane for me. I'd drink and buy again.

Howdy Soda

Marketed as the taste that made lemon lime famous, Howdy is considered to be the forerunner of 7Up. Charles Grigg was the original inventor of the Howdy formula, forming a company in 1920, that made Howdy and eventually Orange Crush. Eventually, Grigg sold the rights to Orange Crush, and began to concentrate on just lemon lime sodas. He came up with a recipe based on Howdy. He called it "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Sodas", which eventually was shortened to 7Up. 

Now, a confession: I love 7Up. So this is a biased opinion. Great fresh smell when opened, bright light, citrus. I was expecting more of a 7up flavow. This tasted a lot like 7Up with some orange flavor added. Not a bad thing, just not what I expected from the soda that's supposed to be the precursor of 7up. I'd drink again, likely buy again as well.

Side note: be careful around honey bees with Howdy. They love it. Couldn't drink the last little bit of the bottle because 2 honey bees had found there way into the bottle.

Green River Soda

Green River Soda started in 1919 during prohibition, when Schoenhofen Edelweiss Brewing Company in Chicago began bottling the non-alcoholic beverages. It a primarily midwestern soda, made now by WIT Beverage Company. If they sound familiar, they also produce the Jelly Belly line of sodas, Goose Island sodas, and a few other soda brands. The Green River recipe was actually bough by WIT in about 2010. Made in Wisconsin the soda is especially popular in Chicago, more so on St Patrick's day, when the city of Chicago turns the Chicago river green. 

Green River River claims to be a "lime soda with just a hint of lemon". Smells citrusy when opened. Sure is green. Very pleasant flavor, and I'm not a big lime fan. I would say that yes, Green River is lime tasting. I don't get the lemon, but the lime is sure tasty. I'd buy and drink again.